Doctrinal Statement:

The Scriptures

Inspiration: We believe that all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, the very words of thetext being communicated to holy men of old by the Holy Spirit (I Cor. 2:13; John 10:34-36). Inspirationextends equally and fully to all parts of Scripture. The Spirit guided in the choice of every word used inthe original writings and authentic original language copies (Ps. 110:1; Mark 12:36-37). Those originalinspired writings and authentic copies were and are free from error (2 Tim. 3:16-17; 2 Pet. 1:20-21).

Preservation: We further believe that every word of the inspired Scriptures has been preservedby God (Ps. 12:6-7). For the English speaking people the Authorized (King James) Version is what webelieve to be God’s Holy Word. We reject all of the modern English versions and its underlying criticaltexts. We only use the King James Bible and its underlying traditional texts which are the HebrewMasoretic Text and the Greek Received Text.

Interpretation: We believe that the grammatical-historical interpretation is the proper

hermeneutic and that it leads to a premillennial and dispensational interpretation of Scripture whichmust be followed at all times. Further, the plain, literal sense of the Scripture should be sought unlessthe context or related passages of Scripture clearly indicate otherwise.

The Trinity

We believe that God eternally exists in three distinct persons and that these three are one Godhaving the exact same and equal nature, attributes, perfections, and with differing offices and functions(Deut. 6:4; Matt 28:18-19; 2 Cor. 13:14; 1 John 5:7).

God the Father: We believe that God the Father is the First Person of the Godhead, eternal, Self-existent, omniscient, omnipotent, and omnipresent (Ps. 139:1-10).

God the Son: We believe that God the Son, Jesus Christ, is the Second Person of the Godhead,the only eternally begotten Son of God the Father, and the Saviour of all who by faith repent of sin andtrust on Him alone for Salvation. He is perfect God and perfect man, never changing. God the Son cameinto this world through the Virgin birth that He might manifest God to men, fulfill prophecy, and becomethe redeemer of sinners through His death, blood atonement, and resurrection. He pre-existed ineternity past, was active in the creation of the world, left Heaven to receive a human body, lived asinless life, performed miracles in His 3 1/2 year ministry, died an unjust death on the Cross in man'splace for man's sin, satisfying the holy demands of God’s law, and arose the third day according to theBible (Rev. 3:21-22; Col. 1:16-19; Heb. 4:15; Luke 1:30-35; John 1:18; John 3:16; Isa. 7:14). He thenascended to the right hand of the Father where He lives to make intercession to the Father as our HighPriest until He returns for His bride at the rapture of the saints, and to establish His Kingdom on Earth(Heb. 7:25) and rule for all eternity.

God the Holy Spirit: We believe that the Holy Spirit is the Third Person of the Godhead eternallyproceeding from the Father and Son and dwelling within every believer. He never departs from thefeeblest of all saints. His work to the believer consists of regeneration, indwelling, teaching,discernment, filling, sealing, etc. (John 14:16, 26; 16:7-11; 1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:30; 5:18). The sign gifts asmanifested in during the apostolic age are no longer operational for today (1 Cor. 13:8).Lucifer and the Angels

We believe that God created a company of sinless spirit-beings called angels. The greatest of allthe angels was Lucifer who sinned through pride, and was followed by a great company (1/3) of theangels in his fall (Rev. 12:4, 9; 1:20). These fallen angels then became demons some of which are activetoday in the execution of Satan’s unholy purposes on earth while others are reserved in chains underdarkness (Isa. 14:12-17; Ezek. 28:11-19; Jude 1:6; 2 Pet. 2:4; 1 Pet. 5:8). The Bible teaches us muchabout God’s Holy Angels (Matt. 25:31) they are ministering spirits (Heb. 1:14). They are powerful (Ps.103:20) and they are consistently in the masculine form and noun.

Man

We believe God created man in His own image and likeness and that man fell through sin in theGarden. As a result, man lost his spiritual life becoming dead in trespasses and sins. We also believe thatthis depravity of man has been transmitted to the entire human race making every child of Adam borninto the world with a nature which is essentially sinful apart from divine grace. The depravity of mansimply means that man is unable to save himself by his any means including good works. It does NOTmean that man is totally unable to respond to God’s offer of salvation as Calvinists teach. (Rom 5:12;3:10-20; 6:23; 8:6-7; Eph. 2:1-3, 8-9; Gen 3:8-19; 1:26; John 3:8) We reject both false theories ofevolution and theistic evolution. God created everything in six literal days (Gen. 1:31).

Salvation

We believe that redemption has been accomplished solely by the blood of Christ and thatnothing on the part of man can avail for salvation. Every man needs to accept Jesus Christ as Saviourbecause all are dead in sin. Christ's blood is sufficient for the salvation of the whole world. Throughrepentance of sin and believing on the Lord Jesus, the sinner receives the new birth, and havingexperienced the new birth, is saved for all eternity (John 3:1-21; 1 Pet 1:18-20; Rom 5:6-11; 2 Cor. 5:21;Eph. 2:1-10).

1. Justification: We believe that justification is the act of God whereby He declares as righteous the sinner who believes and accounts him as righteous. The justification is through the blood of Christ, appropriated by faith alone, and results in the believer having peace with God (Rom 5:1; 4:24). We do not accept the modern day substitution of “the death of Christ” for “the blood of Christ” either in modern Bible versions or in teaching. Rather, we believe the Bible when it says that “without the shedding of blood there is no remission” (Heb. 9:22).

2. Sanctification: We believe that sanctification is positional, progressive, and ultimate. Positional

sanctification is a complete setting apart to God by our position in Christ (Heb. 10:10), Progressive sanctification is our growing in grace as a child of God (2 Pet. 3:18) Ultimate sanctification is when we shall be like Him upon our glorification (1 John 3:1-3). We do not accept, as some holiness groups do, that sanctification is a “second work of grace” making believers sinlessly perfect.

3. Preservation of the Saints: We believe that a Christian can never be lost again based upon the eternal purpose of God, His gift of eternal life, His unchangeableness, and the abiding work of the Holy Spirit in us (John 5:24; Jude 1:24; Rom. 8:29, 35-39; 1 Cor. 6:19; Ps. 37:23-24; Heb. 7:25; 1 John 2:1-2; 2 Tim 1:12; Eph. 4:30). We reject all Arminianism as well as Calvinism. We believe the Bible, not the theological structures of mere men such as Arminius or Calvin.

4. Heaven and Hell: Heaven will be the eternal abode of all believers where they will forever rejoice in the presence of the Lord. Hell is the eternal abode of all unbelievers where they will be eternally separated from God’s benevolence and consciously punished and tormented in the Lake of Fire (Luke 16:19-31; Rev 20).

The Church

The church is an assembly of baptized believers who assemble for the purpose of glorifying God,winning the lost, edifying fellow believers, and carrying out the Lord’s ordinances. The use of the wordchurch in the Bible is restricted to the local church. Therefore, we reject theories of "The UniversalChurch" or "The Worldwide Invisible Church."

1. Officers

o Pastor: We believe that God’s dealings are through His local church under the leadership of the Pastor who is the husband of one wife and maintains other Biblical qualifications (Heb. 13:7, 17, 24; Acts 20:28; 1 Tim 3:1-7).

The licensed minister is one who is generally examined in doctrine, moral purity, faithfulness, and training by the Pastor, deacons, and congregation and approved to be a minister at Mt. Zion Baptist Church. This license must be renewed annually. By it, a minister may preach, be an associate or assistant pastor, lead, serve in the church, perform weddings and funerals, administer communion, etc.

The ordained minister is one who is specifically examined in detail in doctrine, moral purity, faithfulness, and training by the Pastor, deacons, and congregation and approved to be a minister at Mt. Zion Baptist Church or anywhere. This license is for life or until that minister change in doctrine or moral purity. By it, a minister may preach, lead, serve in any capacity in the church including as Senior Pastor, perform weddings and funerals, administer communion, etc. or be sent out to other churches to pastor.

o Deacons: The only other office of the church is the deacon which exists to “free” the Pastor for prayer and the ministry of the Word. The deacons are spiritual men who provide service to the church and counsel to the Pastor. They are given no authority in Scripture (Acts 6:1-7; 1 Tim 3:8-13; Phil 1:1).

2. Ordinances

o The Lord’s Supper: We believe that the Lord’s Supper was instituted by our Lord as a memorial of His death and is to be observed only by believers. This ordinance should be practiced until He comes for us (1 Cor. 11:23-32; Matt 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:14-20). We believe that the unfermented grape juice and the unleavened bread are symbols of Christ’s blood and body. We reject the teaching that the symbols actually become His blood and body as we partake (these false doctrines are called transubstantiation, and consubstantiation). The Lord Supper is strictly a memorial service, and nothing mystical.

o Water Baptism: We believe that Believer’s Baptism is an outward testimony of an

inward work already accomplished by God. Water Baptism is not necessary for salvation (a false teaching called Baptismal Regeneration). However, it should, by an act of obedience, be observed by every believer as soon after conversion as possible. We reject Infant Baptism since the candidate for baptism must already be a professed believer in Jesus Christ. The Bible clearly teaches baptism by immersion as the only mode that maintains the symbolism of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection. We reject baptism by pouring or sprinkling (Acts 8:36; 10:47-48; Rom. 6:3-5; Matt. 3:13-17; Eph. 4:5)

Things to Come

We believe that the next event in God’s timetable is the appearing of Christ in the air to receiveHis People. All saints who have died prior to the Lord’s appearance will be bodily resurrected. Then allliving believers will be called bodily to join them and Christ in the air. This we call the Rapture of thesaints (1 Thess. 4:13-18).

Those left behind on earth will have to endure a seven year period known as the GreatTribulation immediately following the Rapture of the saints. During that time a seven years judgmentwill be poured out upon all nations and the Jews will recognize Christ as their Messiah. Simultaneously inHeaven, believers will face the Judgment Seat of Christ where their works will be judged. The MarriageSupper of the Lamb also occurs during this seven year period.

Upon completion of the Great Tribulation, Christ will return to this earth in bodily form with Hissaints to fight the Battle of Armageddon and to set-up His 1,000 year Kingdom, during which Satan willbe bound. After Satan is briefly loosed and then cast into the Lake of fire, the dead who rejected Christwill face God’s Great White Throne Judgment and will be cast into the Lake of Fire, too. Then, the NewHeavens and the New Earth will appear and we will live with the Lord for all eternity (Revelation, Daniel,Matt 24; Luke 16:19-27; 2 Thess. 2).

Separation

We believe in separation from the world on two levels:

1. Ecclesiastical: We refuse to lend credibility and endorsement and to cooperate or agree in joint- ventures with other organizations and men who are lost, from erring brethren, and from those who do not take similar stands of separation. We further intend to expose error in an attempt to contend for the faith that was once delivered to the saints (Jude 1:3). We see these co- operations as steps to ecumenism and the one world church (Matt. 12:34; 18:15-17; 23:23-27; John 2:13-16; Acts 2:42; Rom. 16:17; 1 Cor. 5:1-2, 6-7,11; 2 Cor. 6:11-18; 7:1; Gal. 2:11-14; Eph. 4:14; 5:11; 2 Th. 3:6, 14-15;1 Tim 1:18-20; 2:15-18; 6:3-5; 2 Tim. 4:10, 14-18; Titus 1:13; 1 John 4:1; 2 John 1:1, 7-11; 3 John 1:9; Rev. 2:2, 14-15). Groups that we would avoid cooperating with would be the liberals, neo-orthodox, new evangelicals, the World Council of churches (WCC), the NCC, the National Association of Evangelicals, Catholic, Charismatic and Pentecostal groups, etc. We are independent, fundamentalist, separatist, Baptist.

2. Personal: We also believe that how we appear, what we listen to, what we say, what we do, where we go, and who we choose as companion is important. We believe that biblical principles of modesty and identification (as either a male or a female) are important in consideration of appearance (Deut. 22:5; 1 Tim 2:9-10). Additionally, the Bible teaches that it is a shame for a man to have long hair but it is proper for a woman to have long hair (1 Cor. 11:14-15). We also believe that all music in every church ought to be conservative and God-honoring in music, words, and presentation. No rock or contemporary Christian music is acceptable in our services (Ps. 40:3; Rom. 12:1-2; 1 John 2:15). We believe that God has commanded that no sexual activity be engaged in outside of a marriage between a man and a woman. We believe that any form of adultery, bestiality, bisexuality, fornication, homosexuality, incest, lesbianism, and pornography are sinful perversions of God’s plan for marriage. We believe that God disapproves of and forbids any attempt to alter one’s gender by surgery or appearance (Gen. 2:24; Gen. 19:5, 13; Gen. 26:8-9; Lev. 18:1-30; Rom. 1: 26-29; 1 Cor. 5:1; 6:9; 1 Thess. 4:1-8; Heb. 13:4). We believe that the only Scriptural marriage is the joining of one man and one woman (Gen. 2:24; Rom. 7:2; 1 Cor. 7:10; Eph. 5:22-23). Finally, we believe that believers ought to abstain from drinking intoxicating beverages, smoking or chewing tobacco, using illegal drugs, gambling, and participating in any activity, saying any words, and going any place where we might do damage to the Christian testimony, the cause of Christ or that might lead us into carnal living and thinking.